Javenia’s insides vibrated with excitement. They wanted to play with her? Other than her younger sisters, no one had wanted to play with her since she’d come to Hazelwood. The girls all thought her too strange, and she’d thought them too boring. It had been lonely. Back in Devonshire she’d had lots of friends, but Papa hated being so far from London and Mama missed her family, so they’d relocated to Kent for the majority of the year.
She looked at the dirt-smudged boys around her. Two had smiles and one had a definite frown. Maybe she had been looking for the wrong type of playmates. Boys were not her first choice, but pirates sounded like a much more enjoyable game than dolls or tea party.
“Can I be Mad Eye Maggie, scourge of the seas?” She clasped her hands in front of her.
Algenon folded his gangly arms over his sopping shirt and vest. “You are already a scourge.”
“Shut it, Al.” Nathaniel glared at his friend. “She saved you. Stop being a ninny about it.”
“He’s just jealous.” She picked up a stick for a sword and pointed it at Algenon. “I dub you Binky Barns, my cabin boy. Now go swab the deck.”
“I’m not no cabin boy.” He grabbed his own stick. “I’m Captain Roberts”—a little smile pulled at his lips—“and I challenge you to a duel.”
With a quick swipe, he hit her raised stick. She was ready for him. They clashed back and forth, their sticks slapping against each other. Petty insults were tossed back and forth, each one more ridiculous than the last.
“Back, you maggot eating dog,” Javenia said.
“Not on your life, you thumb sucking toad.” Algenon made a solid hit.
“I don’t think toads even have thumbs.” She dodged his next thrust.
“Monkeys do, you furry female.”
“So do apes, you flat-faced nymph.”
Algenon snickered. She tried not to smile as she swung her stick with all her might. Their makeshift weapons crashed together and a pair of ominous cracks filled the air as the end of each broke, sending bits of wood flying.
She giggled.
He laughed.
They both scurried to find new weapons.
“John, you’re my first mate, come defend me,” Algenon called, a huge smile splitting his lips.
“Then I’m with Mad Eye Maggie.” Nathaniel grabbed his own stick and stood shoulder to shoulder with her.
Holding her stick aloft, she nodded to Algenon. His eyes sparkled with delight. Somewhere in the battle of insults, a truce had been brokered, one she didn’t quite understand, but welcomed nonetheless.
When everyone was ready, she raised her stick higher. “On guard, Captain Roberts. May the best pirate win.”
And for the first time since Javenia had come to Hazelwood, she no longer felt alone.
Chapter 1
Twenty years later
Javenia sawed at her ham with a little too much vigor, drawing the attention of her mother and father.
“Careful, Javenia.” Her mother frowned, fine lines and wrinkles barely gracing her fair face. How she looked so young after five children no one knew, but Javenia hoped she would be blessed with such a gift. “You will scratch my favorite place setting.”
Taking a deep breath to clear her mind, Javenia relaxed. She’d not meant to let the bend of her thoughts exhibit in action, but apparently she had less possession of herself than she’d realized.
She shouldn’t be upset. It was normal for one’s neighbors to be gone for months at a time. They came and went at will. It was their right—even if it upset her life tremendously.
She glanced around the table at her family. Mama daintily cut her food while discussing the schedule for their upcoming trip to London with Papa. That did not differ from usual. But instead of the six content faces she was used to seeing, there were onlyfour. Some may have rejoiced in the relative quiet their decrease in numbers had brought, but today it grated on her nerves.
As the oldest, it had been her responsibility to reduce their numbers first, her parents holding to the age-old tradition that the oldest daughter should marry before any other daughters could go about in Society. But with each subsequent year she failed to form a suitable match, her parents lost hope and finally consented to her younger sister, Jenica, taking a season.
